Mickey's Trick or Treat Party 10/29...thoughts and photos!

[iheartdisney]

We went to Mickey's Trick or Treat Party last night, and I wanted to share our pictures and thoughts. This was our third year going, and The first year we've been there at rope drop, we usually get stuck in traffic. So this year, we actully got to see the whole park!
I don't agree with all of the negative comments I've read on the boards regarding this year, so I kind of want to touch on that.
First point, Candy Distribution. I think the amount of candy we came home with is about on-par with previous years. we've always come home with about a bag apiece. of course, we didn't dedicate the whole night to getting candy, there was alot more to do. Some places we got one (like the crackers and fruit bars) but most places we got a small handful.
As far as quality, I am amazed that people are complaining. This morning I sorted it all out (yes, Halloween is a socialist holiday around here, all the candy goes in one bowl) and we had an entire bag of Ghiradelli chocolate. The Taffy and Now & Laters are alot fewer than in the past, I think we less than 20 of these combined ( that is from 5 bags ). I remember the first year, that was my main complaint, was it was mostly Taffy and sticky candy like Now & Laters. So I am very happy about that. One main difference I saw was instead of having a choice between the healthy stuff and the candy, like in the past, now there were stations that were either healthy or candy, so you ended up with a good mix. We didn't see any carrots or apple slices this year either. Oh well, what kid goes trick or treating for Apple slices?!!?
The only complaint would have is they should have left the candy lines out of Paradise Pier until the constuction is complete. They put a treat station right at the end of the construction bottleneck between the WOC walls and the Litlle Mermaid walls, so it was just one big human log jam. The entire Paradise Pier area was just really backed up.
Our favorite part of the night is walk-on rides, and it was a homerun this time as well. We skipped Monsters and Bugs Land, which are normally walk-ons, becasue they are always longer during the party. My cousin went on Screamin' 6 times. The only line we waited in was for the Fun Wheel, which was a normal 20 min wait.
The characters were fun, we only waited to meet The Peter Pan characters, and only becasue the night was nearly over, and the line was only 5 groups long. But besides the lines, it was fun to see thecharacters roaming the parks and interacting with guests like they used to before the invention of the autograph books and the Character Spot. I got a great picture of my Peter Pan son pulling his scabbard on Captain Hook!

OK, enough talk, on to the pictures!
I took some self-portaits waiting for rope-drop...First Happy Alice

And Grumpy Alice

I was really suprised when Heimlick popped out of the Candy Corn

Decor

Tink Silluette with the decor

ToT with the cat shadow!

My Tinkerbell running around in the show projections

And talking to the scarecrows

The Minty Girl...My favorite of the Trick or Treat party girls!

Has her bag and is ready to go

Trick or Treat Stations

Some quick shots of us trick or Treating

Here's my youngest's first drop into the ToT!

And my DS pulling his blade on Captian Hook- probably my favorite moment of the night!

So we had to get in line for the meet n greet

 

[cari12]

Wow - you got good candy! We went on the 21st and got maybe half a dozen chocolate things, a few tootsie rolls and a lot of taffy and jawbreakers. They were giving out carrots and apple slices as well. The next morning I went through our bags and there were 4 of us with 3/4 full bags and no lie when I took all the jawbreakers out and put them in a bag by themselves, the bag was literally half full!
We did have a great time and the candy was only a small part of the experience but I was disappointed at the quality.

 

[Queenbillabong]

I'm glad you had fun at the TOTP.

I don't agree with all of the negative comments I've read on the boards regarding this year, so I kind of want to touch on that.

As far as quality, I am amazed that people are complaining. This morning I sorted it all out (yes, Halloween is a socialist holiday around here, all the candy goes in one bowl) and we had an entire bag of Ghiradelli chocolate.

..... and we got NO Ghirardelli at all - barely got any chocolate! Between two of us, there were a total of FIVE chocolate bars - one Kit Kat, one Crunchi, a Reese peanut butter cup, Milky Way, and a Snickers. We were there on the 23rd and apparently that was a bad night for the trick or treating.

 

[3TinksAndAnEeyore]

That makes me want to go sometime! It looks like your family had a really great time! How old are your kids, if you don't mind my asking? For some reason, I had thought TOT was a ride my girls wouldn't want/be able to go on, but the picture of your DD in her Tink costume sure looks like she enjoys the ride. I think I'm going to go check height restrictions now...

 

[iheartdisney]

That makes me want to go sometime! It looks like your family had a really great time! How old are your kids, if you don't mind my asking? For some reason, I had thought TOT was a ride my girls wouldn't want/be able to go on, but the picture of your DD in her Tink costume sure looks like she enjoys the ride. I think I'm going to go check height restrictions now...

My kids are 6,5, and 3, and the oldest two were 4 and 3 the first time they went on. The height is only 40 inches, and it is probably their favorite ride. The only part that freaks them out is in the library when obnoxious people scream in the dark for no reason. They have no problem with the drops.

 

[iheartdisney]

I'm glad you had fun at the TOTP.



..... and we got NO Ghirardelli at all - barely got any chocolate! Between two of us, there were a total of FIVE chocolate bars - one Kit Kat, one Crunchi, a Reese peanut butter cup, Milky Way, and a Snickers. We were there on the 23rd and apparently that was a bad night for the trick or treating.

Wow - you got good candy! We went on the 21st and got maybe half a dozen chocolate things, a few tootsie rolls and a lot of taffy and jawbreakers. They were giving out carrots and apple slices as well. The next morning I went through our bags and there were 4 of us with 3/4 full bags and no lie when I took all the jawbreakers out and put them in a bag by themselves, the bag was literally half full!
We did have a great time and the candy was only a small part of the experience but I was disappointed at the quality.

That is so odd how there are so many conflicting reports on the treats. You would think they could figure out how to evenly distribute it!

 

[3TinksAndAnEeyore]

My kids are 6,5, and 3, and the oldest two were 4 and 3 the first time they went on. The height is only 40 inches, and it is probably their favorite ride. The only part that freaks them out is in the library when obnoxious people scream in the dark for no reason. They have no problem with the drops.

I thought they looked pretty close in age to my two DDs (almost 7 and 3 1/2). I went from reading your post to the DL website to look up the height requirement. Since DD3 is 42", we're in the clear to ride safety-wise. I'll have to see if they'll go for it!

Great pics of the TOT party! It really looks like your family had a nice time.

 

[FourOrchards]

Oh what fun! We have never done the ToT so I'm glad to see your pictures. TFS!

 

[bumbershoot]

...but the picture of your DD in her Tink costume sure looks like she enjoys the ride. I think I'm going to go check height restrictions now...

And she's got an even littler one than Tink, right next to her!

My guy went on TOT just as soon as he was 40" and we got down there. He didn't mind the drops, but didn't like the special effects when you "turn blue and disappear". Hasn't gone on it since.


Interesting difference between candy on different nights!

 

[iheartdisney]

And she's got an even littler one than Tink, right next to her!

My guy went on TOT just as soon as he was 40" and we got down there. He didn't mind the drops, but didn't like the special effects when you "turn blue and disappear". Hasn't gone on it since.


Interesting difference between candy on different nights!

Its so funny, last night was her first ride, she was barely 40 inches...
Last night she said it was scary and she NEVER wanted to ride it again, but this morning it was her favorite ride and she wants to ride it with daddy next time! So we'll see! The physical stuff never bothered my kids, its the mental spookiness.
I'm really glad we decided to skip Ghost Galaxy though, I saw at least 4 kids come off it crying when we were using the bathroom there at the exit! Maybe next year.

 

[maleficent's goon]

I'm wondering if they save the Ghiradelli etc for the nights that cost more---I've not tracked the days that people are reporting from but it would be interesting if that's what they're doing....though I don't care myself.

As for the complaints about the candy(quantity/quality) and not just here----do these people actually attend just to get candy to eat?? For myself I have a few pieces that night and dump the rest in the bowl I'm giving out tonight. I just thought the whole point of attending something like this is to be able to dress up (if you so chose) and be a kid again and not feel silly doing so...not for what you score. Are these the people that egg their neighbors houses if their kids don't return home with a full bag of Hershey??? sad world we live in...or am I alone in this thought?

 

[fairykin]

I'm wondering if they save the Ghiradelli etc for the nights that cost more---I've not tracked the days that people are reporting from but it would be interesting if that's what they're doing....though I don't care myself.

As for the complaints about the candy(quantity/quality) and not just here----do these people actually attend just to get candy to eat?? For myself I have a few pieces that night and dump the rest in the bowl I'm giving out tonight. I just thought the whole point of attending something like this is to be able to dress up (if you so chose) and be a kid again and not feel silly doing so...not for what you score. Are these the people that egg their neighbors houses if their kids don't return home with a full bag of Hershey??? sad world we live in...or am I alone in this thought?

hhhmmmm... I find your words to be not good.

Those that have had different experiences are encouraged to share them on this board, whether pro or con.

My Mother and I, along with other sweet friends, attended with QueenBillaBong and her son and this was one of the nights was the candy was not good.

We all worked on our costumes for months, purchased tickets to the party in a large group, planned for months and months for not only family attendance but a group from disboards. It is important that many voices are heard to express the different expriences. As you do pay for an additional ticket to attend the party and if you are purchasing for a large family, you should be aware it might not be as smurfy as it sounds in the advertisment.

In regards to your question, "Who are these people"....I can safely say all of us are productive and giving members not only to our online communities but also to the cities we live in.

The candy that I was in my bag that night was little and mostly hard as rock, some of it went straight into the trash as it had melted and was stuck together in one big glob.

I do think they should have given out an alternative such as disney pencils, disney characters in halloween costume photos as these are resources they already have in their promo department.

My Mother and I gave the candy that was edible to a fellow Disboarder for her to distribute to children for a school project.

While I am happy that the original poster of this thread had such a positive experience, I equally acknowledge the valid experience that MANY others had which was not positive.

I am Glad that Disney sent me an email survey of the Party so that I could express my views directly to them.

Interesting, that most of the questions, on the survey, were about problems that people expressed here and on other Disney boards.

I can say we purchased ALOT better quality candy to give out not only at our home but also at our place of work.

Everyday issues of quality are addressed on this board, in relation to hotels and so it is only natural that it's done in this instance of the purchased tickets to the halloween party.

 

[cari12]

I'm wondering if they save the Ghiradelli etc for the nights that cost more---I've not tracked the days that people are reporting from but it would be interesting if that's what they're doing....though I don't care myself.

As for the complaints about the candy(quantity/quality) and not just here----do these people actually attend just to get candy to eat?? For myself I have a few pieces that night and dump the rest in the bowl I'm giving out tonight. I just thought the whole point of attending something like this is to be able to dress up (if you so chose) and be a kid again and not feel silly doing so...not for what you score. Are these the people that egg their neighbors houses if their kids don't return home with a full bag of Hershey??? sad world we live in...or am I alone in this thought?

I too find these words very harsh. If you read the posts, most people had a great time but commented that considering we are paying extra for this, the candy was disappointing. It certainly wasn't the whole experience. Implying that because we comment on the candy that we would egg people's houses is a completely inappropriate comment.

 

[Queenbillabong]

As for the complaints about the candy(quantity/quality) and not just here----do these people actually attend just to get candy to eat?? For myself I have a few pieces that night and dump the rest in the bowl I'm giving out tonight. I just thought the whole point of attending something like this is to be able to dress up (if you so chose) and be a kid again and not feel silly doing so...not for what you score. Are these the people that egg their neighbors houses if their kids don't return home with a full bag of Hershey??? sad world we live in...or am I alone in this thought?

That's a pretty big jump to assume that people who were disappointed in the candy that was handed out are the people that egg their neighbor's houses - and quite rude. This is the only trick or treating my son will do this year. We were not complaining of the quantity of candy - there was plenty of it, it was just crap candy.

We were giving part of our experience of the party. I'm glad that some people were able to get better stuff. The CMs even mentioned they had run out of the good candy and would not be getting more in for days, so obviously whoever planned that did not take into account the number of people for each party. No, we don't go just for the candy, but it is part of the experience for quite an expensive day.

Quite frankly, the only reason I mentioned the candy was the OP said "As far as quality, I am amazed that people are complaining. This morning I sorted it all out (yes, Halloween is a socialist holiday around here, all the candy goes in one bowl) and we had an entire bag of Ghiradelli chocolate. The Taffy and Now & Laters are alot fewer than in the past, I think we less than 20 of these combined ( that is from 5 bags )." - which was very obviously not the same experience as other dates for the party, so I was adding our experience with a different date.

 

[Leggyb]

I don't think you're alone in that thought malefecentgoon.. I want to attend the TOT party next year regardless of the candy. I agree that its not the only reason why people should want to attend.

However, I don't think that's what the posters were saying. I think that most people attend for other reasons and not just for candy. If they do attend just for candy then it is silly on their part because they can go trick or treating in their neighborhood for free! They were just simply adding that the candy was medicodre this year, compared to past years. If people are paying for the candy then it should be worth buying.

I do get so annoyed with candy "snobs" though (not saying any of you are). We give out candy at our office around halloween time. It just sits on my desk in a big bowl and I refill it throughout the day. Sometimes only hershey bars are left and I actually have GROWN ADULTS snobbily tell me that I need better candy. SERIOUSLY? I give out candy to our tenants for FREE... I pay out of pocket to supply our tenants with sugar around halloween time and people have the nerve to tell me that my candy sucks. Wow. Ticks me off. Sorry that was a little off topic but I needed to vent (I am working today on Halloween so I am in a bad mood.)

Guess I'm a flip flopper on the candy issue.

 

[DizMe]

I'm SO glad you had fun! We were one of the parties that didn't think it was as great as it could have been, but I'm always happy to hear that others had fun. We were there Thurs. the 22nd.

I've never egged a house and yes, I did complain about the quality of the candy. I don't even eat the candy, but I'd promised it to some little girls (mine). I thought, considering it was a Disney event and cost a fair amount to attend, that the quality would at least have been on par with what you get trick-or-treating. It was not. What was ok I gave away but most of it went into the trash (I declined the majority of it in the first place as I went through the line). The CMs said they'd run out of Ghirardelli the day before so we didn't have that option and the amount of chocolate we did get was about 2 mini candy bars each.

That didn't make or break it for us, but honestly we did not get much more out of the evening than we would have any other evening. It was great to dress up and we liked being in the park after hours, but there wasn't much of a party atmosphere like we were expecting.

Maybe if we'd been with little kids it might have been more fun.

 

[vettegirl]

Great photos and reviews. Can't wait to we have a little one to take!

 

[maleficent's goon]

hhhmmmm... I find your words to be not good.

OK--let me wave a little white flag here. I really wasn't trying to single out anyone in particular--and there's a difference between somebody saying they don't like that they got too many cheap hard candies and somebody who got candy that was glopped into one big mass. I also wasn't implying that people don't have the "right" to express a negative opinion since obviously there were other issues with the parties such as parking etc... I just personally feel that complaining about the quality/quantity of the candy specifically is silly...and apparently I'm nearly alone in this thought...so be it....my SOLO opinion. I apologize to those who got offended-- I just have read so many unnecessarily negative comments about soooo many small Disney-ish things (and beyond just this site) lately that I think its gotten under my skin too much...and NO, I'm not an apologist nor a Pollyanna.

But I will add (and anyone who's saddle I've already put a burr under shouldn't read past this) I have attended this party every year since the first year. To me this has ALWAYS been a relatively small event in a small park for a somewhat small price (particularly to those who can compare it to MK's version) In a year of outrageous, even insensitive price increases and with all the construction issues I really can't fathom what people expected to find that would have kept them happy...ALLOWING for those who made this their first year or those who didn't plan ahead of time for whatever reason to know of some of the issues that would affect the party. Could they have done better..of course... but that can be said about a lot of things Disney yet so many of us keep giving our cash willingly to the Mouse. My joy has come from planning and making my groups costumes---from getting a self professed "thug" to dress as a cartoony Beagle Boy or to get my relatives in their 60's to dress as the Tweedles this year or my mother who was DEAD set against this year's choice who finally relented at the last minute and became the White Rabbit and then to her dismay got singled out by one of the scarecrows "hey rabbit stay out of my vegetable patch!" Not to mention myself in a full costume and wig as the Mad Hatter. For us dressing up in a Disney park with other like minded folk and doing whatever we got to do was worth our $25 and the last thing in our thoughts was what we got in our bag at the end of the night---though Krap-o candy and less stations be darned OUR bags were full!! But priorities and expectations are different for all and for those who didn't get what they wanted I hope next year your informed choice makes you happier

P.S. thank you Dizme for finding humor in the comment about the eggs--should've put a smiley there apparently.

 

[fairykin]

Thank You for taking the time to explain your thoughts behind the words.

Yes, there can be a big difference between someone who has attended the trick or treat party for many years and people who have attended it for the first time. Expectations. That's why it's good for both the positive and negative experiences to be posted. So people can decide if this is the event for them. Maybe it is, and maybe it isn't. Just as a hotel might be good for one family, but not another.

Also, I think that might make a difference if you are local or if you traveled several states away or even from out of the united states.

That said, I am so glad Your family had fun dressing up too! We did too.

I appreciate you taking the time not to apologize or pollyann..but to clarify. And also to share about your family!

 

[Tinkerbelle's Mom]

I'm glad you had fun at the TOTP.



..... and we got NO Ghirardelli at all - barely got any chocolate! Between two of us, there were a total of FIVE chocolate bars - one Kit Kat, one Crunchi, a Reese peanut butter cup, Milky Way, and a Snickers. We were there on the 23rd and apparently that was a bad night for the trick or treating.

We were there the same night. I chalk this up to bad planning on Disney's part.

I am glad to that the OP had a great time.

DD and I had fun but we were disappointed in the Trick or Treating the night we went. I see trick or treating as one of the main reasons to go - especially since they call it Mickey's Trick or Treat Party!